Ingenuity and luxury

Front matter

Class _X-LST

Book >W1Q^

GqjyrigM?-

Chapter I

Dexterity of Hindu weavers, p. 6— Cotton-weavers of Mexico and Peru, p. 7 — Eli Whitney and the cotton-gin, p. 8 — Events leading up to the invention of the "saw-gin," p. io — Description of Whitney's first gin, p. n — Cotton at the mill, p. 13 — First steps in the manufacturing -process, p. 14 — The beginning of the spinning-process, p. 15 — Carding-machine of James Hargreaves, p. 16 — Preparing wool for spinning, p. 18 — Hargreaves and the spinning- jenny, p. 21 — Possibilities of the spinning-jenny, and persecution of the inventor, p. 24 — Arkwright invents the water-frame, p. 25 — Arkwright's early life, p. 26 — The tribulations of an inventor, p. 28 — Arkwright loses his patent on a legal technicality, p. 30 — Arkwright, the man, p. 30 — The invention of the mule, p. 32 — Precautions taken by Crompton to protect his invention, p. 33 — The self-acting mule, p. 35 — What these various inventions did for the cotton industry, p. 36.

Chapter II The Manufacture Of Textiles

Primitive spinning and weaving, p. 38 — How the Egyptians may have learned the art of weaving, p. 39 — John Kay and the flying shuttle, p. 42 — The development of the power-loom, p. 43 — Cartwright's own story of how he came to invent the power-loom, p. 45 — The power-loom perfected, p. 48 — The Jacquard loom, p. 40 — Jacquard's factories destroyed by a mob, p. 50 — The Northrop loom invented, p. 51 — Finishing textile fabrics, p. 52 — Calico printing, p. 53 — Lace-making and knitting machinery, p. 55 — Rev. William Lee, inventor of the first knitting-machine, p. 56.

Chapter III

Style of clothing developed by northern races, p. 59 — Military methods and fashion, two elements that determine types of cos-

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tumes, p. 60 — Some curious fashions — and their explanation, p. 61 — How the plagues affected fashions, p. 62 — The age of wigs, p. 63 — The follies of fashion, p. 64 — The ruff, p. 65 — Legislation against the ruff, p. 66 — Knitted garments, p. 68 — Some remarkable costumes, p. 69 — Grotesque fashions of the Middle Ages, p. 70 — Fashion versus comfort, p. 74 — The return of the common-sense age in clothing, p. 76 — The wholesale manufacture of clothing, p. 78 — Impetus given by the American Civil War, p. 79 — The "task system" introduced, p. 80 — The "Boston" or "factory" system, p. 81 — Steam and electricity in factories, p. 83 — The manufacture of ready-to-wear garments for women, p. 85.

Chapter IV

What the sewing-machine has done for civilization, p. 87 — The sewing-machines of Weisenthal and Saint, p. 89 — The first practical sewing-machine, p. 90 — American inventors enter the field, p. 91 — The coming of Howe, p. 93 — His early patents, p. 95 — Sundry improvements, p. 96 — The invention of Isaac M. Singer, p. 97 — The perfected machine and its conquest, p. 98 — Litigation over patents, p. 99 — Machines with interchangeable parts, p. 102.

Chapter V

How did the custom of wearing shoes originate? p. 103 — Early sandals and buskins, p. 105 — Barbarian shoes and Indian moccasins, p. 106 — Steel shoes, p. 107 — The rise of the shoe industry, p. 108 — Early methods, p. no — Development of the factory system, p. in — The application of machinery, p. 112 — Automatic heeling-machines, p. 113 — Automatic lasting-machines, p. 115 — Lasts and patterns, p. 117 — Modern method of manufacturing shoes, p. 119 — Gloves and gauntlets, p. 121 — How the custom of wearing gloves may have originated, p. 122 — Glove-wearing in the Middle Ages, p. 124 — The manufacture of gloves, p. 125 — First glove-makers in America, p. 126 — Early methods of manufacture, p. 127 — Introduction of dies for cutting the leather, p. 128 — Effect of the Civil War on the glove industry, p. 129 — Block-cutting and table-cutting, p. 131.

Chapter VI The Evolution Of The Dwelling House

Earliest known forms of dwellings, p. 133 — Remains left by prehistoric house-builders, p. 136 — The Swiss lake dwellers, p. 137 —

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Natural surroundings as a determining factor in the selection of building-material, p. 139 — Assyrian, Greek, and Roman architecture, p. 141 — How the primitive house was developed, p. 143 — First walled houses, p. 144 — Some Egyptian houses, p. 146 — The inside arrangement of a Greek house, p. 147 — English dwellings in the time of Alfred the Great, p. 148 — The invention of the chimney, p. 150 — Modern Turkish and Persian methods of heating houses, p. 151 — The use of glass for window panes, p. 153 — Early use of whitewash and plaster, p. 154 — Ancient and mediaeval hinges, p. 156 — Early North American architecture, p. 158 — The revolutionary effect of modern methods of transportation upon building -material, p. 159.

Chapter VII

The reason for building upper stories in early times, p. 162 — The opening of the era of high buildings, p. 163 — The steel frame, p. 164 — The problem of heating, p. 166 — The first stoves, p. 167 — The first steam-heated building, p. 168 — The elevator or "lift," p. 169 — Hydraulic water-balance elevators, p. 170 — Modern hydraulic elevators, p. 171 — The electric elevator, p. 172 — Safety devices on elevators, p. 173 — New tools and new methods, p. 175 — The pneumatic hammer, p. 176 — Some thought-provocative statistics, p. 178 — The Metropolitan Life Tower and the Singer Tower, p. 179 — Wind pressure on a skyscraper, p. 180 — What is the limit of height to skyscrapers? p. 181.

Chapter VIII

Concrete as used by the Romans, p. 182 — The manufacture of Portland cement, p. 183 — Concrete blocks, p. 184 — Method of making concrete blocks, p. 185 — Proportions of materials used, p. 186 — Mixing the material, p. 187 — Molding the blocks, p. 189 — The "curing" process, p. 190 — Facing the blocks, p. 192 — Utility and beauty, p. 193 — Reinforced concrete construction, p. 195 — Concrete as a preservative of steel, p. 196 — Advantages of reinforced concrete, p. 197 — Experiments with steel embedded in concrete, p. 198 — Reinforced concrete water-pipes, p. 200 — Strength and durability of concrete, p. 201 — The resistance to earthquakes, p. 202 — The reinforcing skeleton of metal, p. 204 — A modern concrete building, p. 205 — Skilled carpenters necessary for proper construction, p. 206 — Details of a reinforced concrete skyscraper, p. 208 — Absence of noise in reinforced concrete construction, p. 212.

Chapter IX

The feudal chest, p. 213 — The first mediaeval chairs, p. 214 — Mediaeval tables, p. 215 — The period of Renaissance,, and the beginning of modern furniture, p. 216 — The passing of hand-carving, p. 217 — Pressed work and machine-carving, p. 218 — Machines that carve several duplicate pieces simultaneously, p. 220 — The effect of machine-carved furniture upon the market, p. 222 — Other ingenious tools used in furniture-making, p. 223 — Methods of preparing wood for veneer-making, p. 224 — How veneering is cut, p. 225.

Chapter X

Origin of earthenware, p. 227 — Early pottery -making in China and Japan, p. 229 — Introduction of glazed pottery in Europe, p. 230 — The manufacture of pottery, p. 231 — The raw materials, p. 232 — Chemical composition of clay, p. 233 — Blue or ball clay, p. 234 — Mixing the constituents for making pottery, p. 235 — The use of cobalt, p. 238 — Mechanical Hungers, p. 240 — "Lawn boxes" and "finishing arks," p. 242 — The glaze and its preparation, p. 243 — The fritting process, p. 245 — Methods of making pottery by hand, p. 246 — The potter's wheel, p. 247 — The passing of the thrower, p. 249 — The work of the turner, p. 251 — "Pressing" and "casting," p. 252 — Advantages of casting, p. 254 — Machines that make pottery, p. 255 — "Jolleys" and "Jiggerers," p. 256 — From clay to china, p. 260 — Filing the ware, p. 262 — The temperature at which the ware is usually fired, p. 264 — How the temperature is ascertained, p. 265 — Methods of applying the glaze, p. 266 — Glazing very cheap ware, p. 268 — Preparing the glazed ware for firing, p. 269 — Decorating the ware, p. 271 — Methods of printing, p. 274 — Hand-painted ware, p. 275.

Chapter XI

Origin of glass-making, p. 277 — Commercial importance of glass, p. 278 — Ancient glass-makers, p. 279 — A doubtful Roman tradition, p. 281 — Window glass in the Dark Age, p. 282 — The composition of glass, p. 284 — Qualities imparted to glass by the different silicates, p. 285 — Source of silica, p. 286 — The process of manufacturing window glass, p. 287 — The glass-blower, p. 289 — How the cylinders are fattened, p. 290 — Plate-glass making, p. 291 — Annealing the glass, p. 293 — 'Wire glass," p. 294.

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Chapter XII

Ancient and modern superstitions about gems, p. 295 — Confused nomenclature, p. 297 — Practical tests, p. 300 — Mohs' scale of hardness for gems, p. 301 — Methods of testing, p. 302 — Tables giving specific gravity of gems, p. 303 — The dichroscope, p. 304 — The cutting of precious stones, p. 305 — Bruting, polishing, and cleaning, p. 306 — How gems are cut, p. 307 — Various forms of diamond-cutting, p. 310 — Cleaving precious stones, p. 310 — Strength and skill in diamond-cutting, p. 311 — Diamonds in the rough, p. 312 — Various diamond-bearing earths, p. 313 — How diamonds were discovered in South Africa, p. 314 — Use of diamonds for mechanical purposes, p. 318 — The ruby and its allies, p. 319 — Montana sapphires, p. 321 — "Spanish emeralds," p. 324 — Artificial gems, p. 327 — Laboratory-made diamonds, p. 328 — How other artificial gems are made, p. 330.

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ILLUSTRATIONS

the old way of spinning Frontispiece

cotton-gins Facing p. 8 ^

COTTON BALING-PRESS " 12^

THE ORIGINAL CARDING-MACHINE " 16

ARKWRIGHT'S IMPROVED SPINNING-MACHINE AND A

MODERN MACHINE " 18 ^

ARKWRIGHT'S ORIGINAL DRAWING-FRAME ... 26 ^

ARKWRIGHT'S ORIGINAL SPINNING-MACHINE ... 28 ►'

SIR RICHARD ARKWRIGHT 30 f

SAMUEL CROMPTON 32 ^

OLD METHODS AND NEW IN SPINNING .... 36 ^

PRIMITIVE AND ADVANCED METHODS OF WEAVING . 4S

MODELS OF A PRIMITIVE LOOM AND A JACQUARD

LOOM 52^

THE EARLIEST SEWING-MACHINES 90 V

EARLY TYPES OF SEWING-MACHINES 96 ^

EXCAVATING FOR THE FOUNDATION OF A SKY- SCRAPER " 162 V

SKYSCRAPERS IN PROCESS OF CONSTRUCTION . . " l66 1^

THE TOWER OF THE METROPOLITAN LIFE BUILDING,

NEW YORK, ILLUMINATED " 178 *

A GROUP OF SKYSCRAPERS ON LOWER BROADWAY,

NEW YORK " 1%QV

HOW THE WORLD BELOW LOOKS FROM A SKY- SCRAPER " 206 if

TIMES SQUARE, NEW YORK, AT NIGHT " 212 1^

THE POTTER'S WHEEL " 248 V

"gathering" GLASS " 288 -

GLASS-BLOWING 290

GLASS-CUTTING 294 /-

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Introduction

CIVILIZATION is a synonym for artificiality. Man is not naturally adapted to live in any climate but a tropical one, and when he wilfully invades the inhospitable temperate zone, he creates artificial needs that require artificial aids for their fulfilment. It is tolerably obvious how this applies to food supplies — how the tropics supplied fruit to our primitive ancestor free for the taking, and how in the north he was obliged to become a fisher, a hunter, a grazer, and an agriculturist — in short a perpetual toiler forced to fight incessantly for the necessities of life.

What is true of the food supply is even more tangibly true as regards man's fight with the elements. In tropical forests clothing is almost a superfluity, and even the crudest house is a luxury rather than a necessity. But for the inhabitants of temperate and arctic zones it becomes imperative to conserve the bodily heat by incasing the body in an artificial covering, and by supplying an artificial environment, which is best secured by the building of houses. The prime object of these artifices is to prevent too rapid

VOL. IX. — I [ 1 1

* L J giving-off of heat by the body, through which the integrity of the bodily machine would be threatened. Such is the end subserved by the coats of feathers and of fur with which man's confreres of the animal world are provided by Nature. Divested of this natural covering, man has no resource but to provide an artificial substitute, or to take up his permanent abode in the tropics.

The evolutionist assures us that the time was when man was provided with a natural, heat-conserving covering of hair; as also there was a time when our remote ancestor did not attempt to stray beyond the tropics. In this stage of his development man doubtless neither felt the need, nor conceived the idea, of artificial clothing. It was only, we may suppose, when the wandering impulse — based probably upon the overpopulating of his old environment — led him gradually to seek new territories away from the Equator, that the new experience of changing seasons brought to the growing intelligence of our primitive ancestor the idea of artificial protection from the weather. That idea once grasped and put into execution, and combined with the kindred idea of producing warmth with an artificial fire, gave man the key that unlocked the hitherto closed doors of the North Temperate Zone. Provided with these ideas of conserving the heat of the bodily machine — though as yet far enough from understanding the real nature of his discovery — man entered upon the difficult but alluring pathway to the conquest of the world.

When one reflects on the perpetual fight for life that

INTRODUCTION

man is obliged thus to wage against the elements, it seems strange indeed that a rational being should voluntarily subject himself to such a conflict. Yet all experience goes to show that strength comes only through exertion; that it is the very opposition of the elements that has developed man's intelligence. To supply the artificial needs which an unnatural environment has forced upon him, man has taxed his ingenuity; and the result is — civilization.

In the present volume we are concerned primarily with man's struggle with the elements — with his attempts to protect himself from wind and weather, and to conserve the heat supplied him by the food he eats, and which is essential to his existence. We shall witness man's method of satisfying desires that have grown up in connection with the artificial life of a housed, clothed, comfort-loving resident of uncomfortable climates.

We shall have to do with the materials of houses and the methods of house-construction — from tent and cabin to the modern skyscraper.

We shall consider also the materials with which man provides himself with an artificial body-covering; the mechanical devices with which he makes wool and flax and cotton into cloth, and the varying plans he has followed in fitting this clothing about his person — in a word, the story of costumes.

In all phases of this story of man's struggle with the elements we shall be concerned with the practical rather than with the esthetic. The latter, to be sure, cannot be altogether ignored, so closely is the task of the artisan interwoven with that of the artist. But, in the main, it is the utilitarian world that confronts us. We have to do, for example, with domestic architecture as a practical means of satisfying man's necessities and desires, rather than with architecture as a fine art; and we shall be concerned with the useful rather than with the esthetic aspects of clothing. Yet we shall perhaps be surprised to note how closely the two aspects of the subject are linked, and how generally estheticism waits upon utility. Moreover, we shall have occasion before we close to cross the border-line of the realm of mere utility, and to make excursions into the domain of art and luxury, following here the example set by man himself at all stages of his career, whether as savage, as barbarian, or as civilian.

I

IT is difficult to say what substance was first used by primitive man for spinning — whether wool, cotton, or flax fibers — since all of these were used prehistorically. But the extensive and universal use of cotton is of comparatively recent date, and many of the remarkable inventions of machinery for spinning and weaving were designed primarily for using cotton fibers. Fortunately most of such implements will spin and weave wool and hemp as well as cotton, using certain modifications that do not affect the general principle, and a description of the cotton spinning and weaving machines will suffice to give a general idea of all the rest.

Just when cotton fabrics were introduced into Europe cannot be definitely determined, but it was certainly several centuries before the Christian era. It is probable that such fabrics came first from India, where the cotton plant is indigenous. Herodotus, who wrote his history about the middle of the fifth century, B.C., refers to the cotton garments of the Indians; and we know that in Roman times cotton had become a standard article of importation from the East. This traffic with Europe disappeared largely in the [Dark Ages, but was revived again on the reawakening of Western Europe.

Many of the cotton fabrics woven by the natives of India were marvels of delicacy, and are still unequalled by western weavers. Some of the India muslins were of such delicate texture that they "were scarcely perceptible if crumpled in the hand; and if spread upon the grass when dew was falling, soon became invisible," if we may believe the description of an Indian missionary.

These muslins were hand-made, and although western workmen have striven to equal them, they have never been able to approach them in delicacy. The explanation of this lies, perhaps, in the difference in the temperaments of Hindus and Europeans. The Hindus are remarkable for their acuteness of touch, and their hands are unusually flexible and delicate. This combination of qualities probably accounts for their superiority as fine weavers. But another element should not be overlooked in this connection; cottonweaving had been practised in India for many centuries, or perhaps even millenniums, before Europeans began it; and successive generations of skilled workmen in any field are sure to become extremely expert in their work. This fact, quite as much as any physical or temperamental differences in the races, may account for the Hindu weaver's remarkable dexterity.

The increasing importations of cotton fabrics from India during the seventeenth century began to alarm Europe, particularly England, where they seemed to menace the wool-manufacturers. Parliament passed a bill in 1700 forbidding the importation of India goods; but as smuggling was easy, the traffic still continued, and another act for a similar purpose, but still more stringent, was passed within a year of the first. As this did not have the desired effect, Great Britain adopted the more effective expedient of plunging into cotton- manufacturing herself; and although by the end of the century India was sending more cotton than ever to the British Isles, it was no longer as manufactured fabrics, but as raw cotton itself, to be woven into English cloth by English workmen and machinery.

Before this time, however, America had become a source of cotton- supply and was rapidly growing in importance. Columbus had found cotton growing indigenously in most of the lands he discovered, and Cortez and Pizarro had made similar discoveries in Mexico and Peru. In fact, the cotton garments of the Aztecs were of such fine workmanship, that the conqueror of Mexico sent home specimens of these to his sovereign, Charles V, as a gift suitable for a monarch.

The cotton grown in the Western Hemisphere, however, was not equal in quality to the Indian product. It was not the same species of annual herbaceous plant now universally grown in the South, but seems to have been a variety grown on shrubs or small trees. No attempt was ever made to cultivate these native plants, but seed of the Indian plant was sent over from England, and probably cultivated by the American colonists in Virginia about 1620. The first official record of cotton being cultivated in America, however, is given in a report of the colony of Virginia in 1621, where it is mentioned among the other products. The climate of the South must early have appealed to the settlers as peculiarly adapted to cotton-raising, since the semitropical temperature, and relatively small amount of rainfall provided ideal conditions. Cotton-planters, therefore, began settling all through the southern districts, and by the time of the Revolutionary War cotton had become one of the staple American exports. Until the latter part of the nineteenth century, and, in fact, until the close of the Civil War, India more than held her own in the matter of cotton production. Since that time, however, cotton-raising in the South has advanced with such rapid strides that at present over sixty per cent, of all the cotton in the world is grown south of the Ohio River, and north of the Rio Grande. Over seven million people are occupied in handling this crop, which is valued at about $500,000,000 annually; and something like seventy per cent, of the output is exported.

ELI WHITNEY AND THE COTTON-GIN

For many centuries the most tedious and difficult part of the cotton harvest was the separation of the seeds from the fibers, an operation called "ginning." The seeds stick to the cotton-fibers interwoven about them so tenaciously that by the old method of handginning only a few pounds of cotton-fiber could be separated in a day by the workman. This was the great drawback to the use of cotton-fabrics, as a substance so difficult to harvest was proportionately

COTTON GINS.

The lower figure is Eli Whitney's original cotton gin, made in 1793. The upper figure shows an English modification of Whitney's machine.

expensive. But in 1793 the American, Eli Whitney, invented his cotton-gin, an implement which in its revolutionary effects has been little inferior to gunpowder itself.

Whitney was born at Westborough, Massachusetts, December 6, 1765. As a boy he had shown great mechanical ingenuity, having inherited a taste for machinery from his father, who was quite a skilful mechanic in a small way. Even as a boy of twelve years, young Whitney made many ingenious contrivances, among others a violin of fairly good shape and tone, and was recognized throughout his neighborhood as a boy possessed of unusual mechanical ingenuity.

The story is told that while still a small boy he became possessed with the very common child's desire to take his father's watch to pieces. Feigning illness at church-time one Sunday, therefore, Eli stayed at home, the rest of the family going to their place of worship some little distance from the house. No sooner had the family departed than Eli's illness vanished, and securing the watch left behind by his father he proceeded to take it to pieces. This part of the task was an easy one for any average boy; but Eli, after removing all the works, performed the more difficult one of putting them together again in proper order, leaving the watch running as before.

During the Revolutionary War young Whitney was quite successful in manufacturing nails by an ingenious process of his own ; and afterward he engaged in the manufacture of hat-pins and walking-sticks. In 1789 he entered Yale College, and during his course of studies there frequently astonished his tutors by his ingenuity in repairing the scientific apparatus used in the laboratories, and in making various kinds of apparatuses of his own. Aside from this his college course was much the same as that of other students of corresponding age, although he became known as a vigorous and tireless worker.

His good fortune began with an acquaintance with the family of Gen. Nathanael Greene, of Georgia. Having been offered a tutorship in a Georgia family in the neighborhood of the Greene plantation, Whitney journeyed south to take the position, only to find upon his arrival that the place had been filled. Under these circumstances he was glad to accept the hospitality of Mrs. Greene, taking up his residence for the time being at her home. Here he soon had an opportunity of exhibiting his ingenuity. His hostess complaining one day that her tambour (a circular frame on which embroidery is worked) was unsatisfactory, and frequently tore her embroidery, Whitney offered to make her another, and soon produced a tambour far superior to any ever seen in the vicinity before. This, and some other ingenious devices, soon gave the young Yankee a reputation for ingenuity among the planters, and as a cotton-gin was the most needed implement in the region, he was urged by his hostess and her friends to attempt the invention of such a machine.

At that time, Whitney had never seen a boll of cotton, and knew nothing whatever of the process of ginning. He approached his subject, therefore, with the ignorance, but also the enthusiasm, of the novice. As an initial step he made a trip to the wharves at Savannah, and there succeeded in securing enough raw cotton for experimental purposes. A room in the Greene mansion was turned over to him for a workshop, and he set about his task. A few months later the doors of his den were thrown open, disclosing his wonderful creation, the "saw gin."

This remarkable machine consisted of a series of circular saws set close together on an axle, arranged so that they played between narrow slots in a comblike piece of metal. As the cotton was fed to these saws, the fibers were seized and drawn down through the slots, which were too small to allow the passage of the clinging seeds. A series of revolving brushes on the opposite side removed the cotton fibers, delivering them as fleecy cotton-down free from seeds, while the seeds rolled away into a receptacle made to receive them. By this machine, the work of a single man was increased at least a hundredfold, a day's work being no longer represented by the pound, but by the hundredweight.

As the news of this successful invention spread among the planters, Whitney soon experienced the treatment that seems to have been peculiarly the fate of almost every early inventor connected with the spinning- and weaving-industries. The inventors of the spinning- jenny, flying- shuttle loom, and mule, had their machines broken or destroyed; Whitney's gin was stolen. The differences in the motives of these similar acts of vandalism are in striking contrast. Whitney's gin was stolen by planters for use in hastening their work; Hargrave's and Kay's spinning- and weaving -machines were destroyed by mobs of workmen because they worked too fast.

Nevertheless, Whitney succeeded in bringing his specifications before the proper authorities and secured his patents. Later he returned to New Haven, Connecticut, and opened a factory for manufacturing his machines. Congress finally voted him $50,000; but as he became involved in litigation over his patent for several years, he realized, in the end, little or no financial gain for his great service to mankind. This is the more deplorable as his title as sole inventor seems to stand undisputed, and as his gin has proved such a boon to civilization — "more important in the history of the United States than all of its wars and treaties," as an English admirer of Whitney said a century later. How completely the inventor had solved the problem from the very first is attested by the fact that the modern gins used on American plantations are still of the Whitney type, very slightly modified.

When the cotton comes from the gin it is taken immediately to the presses and pressed into bales weighing about five hundred pounds. From these it is passed on to the "compressor," where it is still further reduced in bulk by enormous pressure ranging from onethousand to fifteen hundred pounds to the square inch, the thickness of the bale being reduced to about four feet, six or seven inches. It is then secured with half a dozen iron hoops, and is ready for shipment to the mills.

COTTON BALIXG-PRESS

This form of press for compressing ginned cotton into bales is so arranged that the bales can be securely bound while under pressure.

In recent years the Americans have introduced a new system of baling, the cotton being pressed into flat layers, and rolled into cylindrical bales instead of the time-honored angular form. Such bales are made about four feet long and two feet in diameter, and weigh in the neighborhood of four hundred pounds each. It is claimed for this form of bales that they are more easily handled, can be packed more closely, and are both fireproof and waterproof.

COTTON AT THE MILL

There are various kinds and qualities of raw cotton, dependent upon the length and nature of the individual fibers themselves. Some cottons, such as the Sea Island, are composed of long, delicate fibers, while others have short, coarse fibers and are much less valuable. The gap between the very best and the poorest kinds of cotton is so great that no attempt is made to strike a general uniform average in such cottons by mixing; but in the intermediate varieties this mixing process is practised universally, and is the first process to which the raw cotton is submitted at the mills.

The quality of each bale of cotton as it comes to the factory is determined by microscopical examination of a certain number of fibers which are taken from different parts of the bale. This is particularly necessary where bales come from the smaller farmers, in which the products of several different pieces of land may be represented in each bale.